What Is A Brise Soleil In Architecture?
What Is A Brise Soleil In Architecture?
Brise soleil is a type of solar shading system in architecture that uses horizontal or vertical blades to control the amount of sunlight and heat entering a building. Blocking direct sunlight help reduce glare and overheating while still allowing daylight inside.
The name ‘brise soleil’ originates from the French phrase meaning ‘sun breaker,’ which perfectly describes how these devices break up and diffuse direct sunlight before it enters the building.
Brise soleil systems can be customized to fit any building style or design, making them an attractive and efficient way to maintain comfortable temperatures indoors.
How Does Brise Soleil Work?
Brise soleil is a way of protecting windows and other glazed surfaces from direct sunlight, as well as providing shade and ventilation.
By strategically designed blades or louvers installed externally to the building, these systems allow the low-level sun to enter in the mornings, evenings, and during winter while deflecting direct summer sun.
This helps to alleviate overheating inside the building and protects occupants from glare.
Depending on individual requirements, brise soleil systems can fully encompass a structure, be part of a curtain walling system, or be an independent structure. As with sunscreen for our skin, these devices are effective sun protection for buildings.
What Else Is Brise Soliel Used For?
- Brise soleil does not have just to be used for controlling the light entering a building – it can also take the form of solid shelves or walkways for regular external maintenance of buildings instead of using scissor lifts, cherry pickers, or mobile platforms.
This is why it remains so popular; apart from being aesthetically pleasing with customizable shapes, colors, and patterns – such as corporate branding
- It serves multiple functions that would otherwise require separate and more expensive solutions.
Le Corbusier, in the 1930s, was one of the first to combine both performance and aesthetic virtues with brise soleil by using concrete to create a unique identity for his buildings, further demonstrating its versatility.
How Can You Incorporate Brise Soleil In Building Design?
Brise soleil systems can be incorporated into building design in various ways.
They can be concentrated on specific areas of a building, such as extending adjacent with or overlapping glazed expanses; they can be used to completely envelop a structure or form part of a curtain walling system; and they may also exist as independent structures.
The design should consider local conditions and the structure’s architecture to create an effective brise soleil system that provides maximum benefit to the overall design.
Did Le Corbusier Invent Brise-Soleil?
Yes, Le Corbusier was a pioneer in modernist architecture and is credited as one of the first architects to develop the brise-soleil. This architectural feature provides shade from direct sunlight.
Brise-soleil refers to any sun shielding device attached to a building’s exterior and ranges from horizontal fins to vertical screens, overhangs and awnings. During the 1930s, Le Corbusier adopted this technology while working in hot countries to control heat gain through windows.
He incorporated it into some of his iconic buildings, such as Villa Savoye and Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, France.
His design philosophy focused on harnessing natural sunlight by using strategically placed windows in combination with brise-soleil for controlled lighting instead of relying on external light sources such as electric lamps.
Although he did not invent this technology himself, he popularized it through his innovative designs, and it has since become widely adopted by architects today.
